Will he ever improve?

2-7 seconds in 7 months is HUGE. I'm a bit miffed that there is an expectation (yours, his, or both) that he'll be able to just be right there in a few months when other kids have been doing it for years. If he is truly driven, this will be good for him, as he'll have to out in the work, which will help him throughout life. That said, the 13 year old kids on our team are in the water over 17 hours per week (when school work allows). 2 hrs M-F AM, 1.5 M, W, F PM, and 2.75 Sat AM. Maybe he needs more practice. Can he start late? Ed Moses is an Olympic gold medalist who took up the sport at 17....... Is it really huge when you start with abysmal times? Even with those cuts he is still the slowest in his age group at every meet. He is able to go against 11 and 12 year olds and do alright. Please don't get me wrong, I am not asking if he is going to be the star of his team in 2 months time, I understand that it takes years and years. I am by no means trivializing other kids commitment to the sport. But I also don't want him to be the kid that lives at the pool but goes nowhere despite all the work he is putting in, he is not the kid that would be satisfied with that. 17 hours is a lot. He doesn't swim nearly as much - about 10 hrs / week.

I was 13 when I started seriously swimming. I was on a large age group club and had to practice with 8 and 9 year olds at the beginning because I was so slow. It was rough for a couple of years, but I made steady improvements and by my junior year in high school was training with the top group in the club and placing in district high school meets. I was never a star, but I was good enough for it to be very rewarding. If he keeps putting in the training and and gets good coaching on technique, he won't stay the slowest for much longer.

I would say in general with steady practice, it is a three year process of steady year round work to get good. Good being maybe 80% of where you would be after 10 or more years. It’s been said 10 years to reach 100% full potential and that’s probably about right. If we take the 100 free for example and take 45 as 100% full potential for an elite HS athlete, then I would think if he were blessed with same ability then maybe he can hit 54 after 2-3 years. If he was at 50sec max potential, which by the way is extremely respectable, then I would think he could be under a minute in year two or three. A lot has to do with body awareness and feel for the water. Those things hopefully he has. His time drops should be very significant over the next three years. They may not be linear, but nothing for a while then sudden, so he needs to take it as at least a three year process.

My son is 13 and this is his first year swimming in a club. For many different reasons he was late getting into the sport and slow to warm up to it but right now he is loving it and wants to do everything he can to get better. The problem is he is not getting better fast enough (for him). I keep telling him to be patient and put in the work, but it's completely devastating to him to go to meet after meet and have marginal improvements. I want to stress that he is the one who wants this - to improve his times, to get faster, to not be dead last in every event. He is very much aware of where he is right now. He does not want to be an Olympic swimmer, obviously, just a better one than he is right now. We talk about improving in relation to his own times, not comparing himself to others, enjoying the fun of it, but he is 13 and I guess it's not great for your self esteem when your times are so much worse than your teammates. He keeps asking me, when is it going to kick in for him. Right now he swims 4 times a week about 2 hours each practice. He does some dryland (not much). I guess what I am asking is - what can we do to help? He is actually starting to do swim team at a perfect age, seriously. Swim lessons have a point of diminishing return. Learning to swim and developing stroke technique are 2 different things; entirely different skill sets. Problem is that the business side of aquatics pushes everyone who needs help with swimming into lessons. And as someone else pointed out boys don't peak until college. Find a very good coach. And remember it takes time.. Swimming is like gymnastics and yoga: technique and form... it takes time and the right progression.. and takes alot of time.. add in the conditioning.

The answer is Yes, yes, yes. Many swimmers on my HS team did not start swimming competitively until they were 14ish, and became very good swimmers by the end of senior year. HS swimming's dual meets are a big change from the USAS individual meets, and a lot more fun for everyone, with large numbers of swimmers contributing. You don't have to be the state champ to contribute significantly to the competition and the team wins as a whole (or loses). A totally different experience in my opinion and he is likely to be a very important swimmer on his HS team. If he wants to swim in college, he may need to pick up the pace from 10 hours per week, but there is PLENTY of time for him to make that decision and move. Additionally, as others have said, big physiological changes may be ahead for him as he matures. His ability to handle the work load will evolve too. Also, remember that your body builds muscle and adapts to the stress from exercise when it rests, not when it is working, and it is sometimes hard to see progress in the middle of a training season. Now that he is past the basics, good coaching and technique are important, as well as his continuing to enjoy swimming. Good luck.

I would say in general with steady practice, it is a three year process of steady year round work to get good. Good being maybe 80% of where you would be after 10 or more years. It’s been said 10 years to reach 100% full potential and that’s probably about right. If we take the 100 free for example and take 45 as 100% full potential for an elite HS athlete, then I would think if he were blessed with same ability then maybe he can hit 54 after 2-3 years. If he was at 50sec max potential, which by the way is extremely respectable, then I would think he could be under a minute in year two or three. A lot has to do with body awareness and feel for the water. Those things hopefully he has. His time drops should be very significant over the next three years. They may not be linear, but nothing for a while then sudden, so he needs to take it as at least a three year process. Thank you. His best time for 100 free was 1.16 at the end of short course season , down from 1.25 at the beginning of the season.

He should break a minute in another year, maybe two. Keep encouraging him! Can you post a video? It’s all about technique.

Swim 5 or 6 times a week or maybe 7 to 9. Put him in the best most convenient swim program. There's a lot of ways for a motivated young swimmer to get faster. Improve technique, get stronger, train harder and faster, better coaching I wrote swim faster faster with tons of tips. Watch youtube videos of elite swimmers and copy their technique. please share more details height weight events and times by age But also please let swimming be HIS thing, consider backing off, let him and his coach figure things out. Don't get too wrapped up in it. We've all seen swim parents who are too eager and pushy and it never ends well. Just be a dumb loving swim parent, make sure your child has the equipment he needs and drop him off and pick him up on time for practices and meets. Don't watch him practice and let swimming be his thing. Ask a few questions like Are you having fun? How was that swim? then listen Let your kid be a kid and let him have fun.

please share more details height weight events and times by age He is 5 ft, about 90 lbs His most recent events and times: 200 free 3:00 200 br 3:58 200 back 3:29 100 free 1:19 100 back 1:33 100 br 1:45

Thank you, he needs to train more times per week, he can get much faster in many ways He’s going to grow Let him train more times per week I know a young man who went from 2:50 to 1:48 in the 200 back in 4 years between age 14 to 18